Timber harvesting volumes have fallen, driven by a decrease in demand

According to information provided by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), the volume of wood harvested from forests in Finland decreased to 69 million cubic metres in 2023. Specifically, log harvesting fell by nine per cent, while pulpwood harvesting fell by 8%.

“Last year, as a result of logging, forest management and natural processes, the volume of living wood in forests decreased by 82.3 million cubic metres, while the growth (new increment) was 103.6 million cubic metres, which means that the total timber volume increased by 21.3 million cubic metres last year,” reports senior statistician Jukka Torvelainen (Jukka Torvelainen) in a Luke bulletin.

In recent years, there has been much discussion in Finland about the potential for carbon sequestration in forests. As is known, forests play a major role in the climate policies of both Finland and the EU. To date, the increase in carbon sequestration in forests, which could be linked to lower logging volumes, has not been quantified. More information on this will be available in May, promised J. Torvelainen.

Lower demand for forestry products

Compared to the potential for logging, the total actual logging volume in Finland in 2023 was 11.2 million cubic metres lower. According to J. Torvelainen, this is primarily due to lower demand for forestry products. According to data from the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, demand for forest industry products in markets decreased last year. The causes were high inflation, rising interest rates, and large previous inventories.

In the chemical forest industry, paper production decreased by 5.0% compared to 2022, cardboard production by as much as 18.6%, and pulp production by only half a per cent (0.5%). Sawn timber production in 2023 was 6.8% lower than the year before, while plywood production decreased by a fifth (21.6%).

https://forest.fi/article/fellings-in-finland-went-down-in-2023/#23545f49